What kind of person disses the Batkid?

posted at 11:31 am on November 23, 2013 by Jazz Shaw

This story actually took place a couple of days ago, but since I missed it at the time I figured it was worth a quick look in case any of you had also. I’m sure you remember the story of Miles Scott, the five year old leukemia survivor who got to be Batkid for a day, as San Francisco transformed itself into Gotham while Miles saved everyone from various nefarious villains. Pretty much the entire country was swept up in the story, and even a die-hard old cynic like yours truly couldn’t avoid a bit of tearing up (no doubt from the high pollen count that day). It was a darned near perfect story.

So how could anyone have a problem with it? Enter San Francisco Supervisor Eric Mar. As the rest of the city came out in droves to cheer Miles on to victory for the good guys, Mar was busy taking to his Twitter account.

As the whole world watched San Francisco transform itself into Gotham City for little Miles Scott, Mar tweeted: “Wondering how many 1000s of SF kids living off SNAP/FoodStamps could have been fed from the $$.”

Faster than you could say “Holy Social Media,” tweeters shot back.

“Denigrating the make a wish program. How incredibly low of you,” one said. “Way to be a wet blanket,” tweeted another. Most of the other replies weren’t printable.

Mar quickly tried to backpedal, with a rather limp sounding qualifier of “ I probably should have started the tweet with, ‘Love the Batkid,’ to be clear that I support …” but it was too late. The damage was done, and it was clear that the Grinch had been exposed and his heart wasn’t going to be growing three sizes that day or any other. But perhaps we shouldn’t be all that surprised at this type of reaction from Mar. Other folks have been doing some digging into this particularly odious politician’s past and found something of a pattern emerging. Mar is a big time, Bloombergesque nanny stater who harbors a pretty hard core, anti-American and anti-police world view. The evidence:

This guy is a real piece of work, and no doubt about it. But I suppose if you make the choice to live in San Francisco, you’re going to run into this sort of a fairly frequent basis. And they’re not just walking the streets, either… they are in high city offices. But seriously… the Batkid? This may be a new low for Supervisor Mar.

I have to wonder if the appearance of hard-core leftists on the political stage is a self regulating environment. Communists in Seattle, socialists in SF. They get elected (graph starts to rise), then do, or say stupid crap they told people they would do which freaks people out (graph goes down). Public forgets after a while and elects another batch (graph goes up)… wash, rinse, repeat.

Not me. I’m am deluged on a daily basis with these anecdotal feel-good stories. To borrow a phrase, they’re an opiate for the masses.

I certainly don’t agree with the “this money could have been used for the poor!” (see: Judas) line, but in no way, shape or form should we be using tax money for a 5 y.o. to be getting his bat on.

I’ve got four kids I struggle to feed, clothe, educate, etc. I pay too much in taxes already. I’m all for limited safety nets (on the state level) for the truly needy and I’ve given to Make-a-Wish as a private donation… but other than that… I’m not smoking the poppies.

Tired of hearing about this story. I see his point, but the real question is how much money could have been given to working people instead of spending it on OgabeCare, pointless kinetics kerfuffles never intended to be won, and all the EBT/benefits given to placate the FSA, (Free Shiite Army).

If Mar is banning things that children might enjoy, like Happy Meals, it reflects a mindset that thinks that children when they’re nearby don’t deserve nice things and are really just a nuisance (the supervisor might gush about the plight of Third World kids in his other moments, but that’s because they’re anywhere from 800 to 8,000 miles away from the city by the Bay).

If you already think kids in your area get treated way better than they should, when there are other things on your agenda you demand be dealt with first, why wouldn’t you grouse over everyone dropping everything to act nicely to a kid with leukemia? And if you scanned some of the comments last weekend at the San Francisco TV and newspaper websites, you can see the same mindset among a lot of the locals, which is why they elect and re-elect someone like Eric Mar in the first place.

America is headed toward financial ruin, the middle class is collapsing, our foreign policy is a dangerous mess, our government is spying on us and destroying lives, the police are arming themselves against the citizenry… yeah, this constant barrage of feel-good “news” is an opiate for the masses.

Social media is spilling over with this kind of stuff… not with stories about how Li’l Barry is usurping power from the legislative branch.

There are countless families struggling today and to get us to ignore the demise of the middle class we’re fed these stories. If MAW helps a kid here or there, great for him/her, great for the families involved. But the line should be drawn at tax dollars.

From a practical standpoint, I went to Dorney Park whe I was 5. Have essentially zero memory of it. Glad my family took me, but also glad taxpayers didn’t have to fork over thousands.

So this guy takes a bunch of Leftist positions I despise, and I’ve already noted my rejection of the “it could have been used for EBT!” argument (which is also in the “I care!” category of public tax spending), that doesn’t negate all criticism. Hitler hated the USSR, that doesn’t make all hatred of the USSR “Hitlerian” or mean that any opposed to the USSR also supports genocide of the Jews.

San Francisco, the backdrop for Batkid’s makeshift Gotham City, spent $105,000 in public funds to better host the affair

The tweet went out long before this… which may never happen…

…and now the Make-a-Wish Foundation is raising private funds in an effort to pay back the city.

I will diss the government spending a hundred thousand dollars to make a kid feel emotionally better. I do not care that the kid is dying. Tax dollars should never be used for this kind of thing, EVER.

yeah, this constant barrage of feel-good “news” is an opiate for the masses.

mankai on November 23, 2013 at 12:15 PM

I think it is the suggestion that these stories are intended to keep the people from rising up is what makes me mad. They are to uplift, not just the kid but anyone who might be suffering and give them something to smile about. All those problems you mentioned are fixable and the solution isn’t moody pessimism. What do you suggest as a solution?

America is headed toward financial ruin, the middle class is collapsing, our foreign policy is a dangerous mess, our government is spying on us and destroying lives, the police are arming themselves against the citizenry… yeah, this constant barrage of feel-good “news” is an opiate for the masses.

Social media is spilling over with this kind of stuff… not with stories about how Li’l Barry is usurping power from the legislative branch.

That’s exactly what I’m trying to say. Thanks for being far more succinct.

mankai on November 23, 2013 at 12:23 PM

Actually, I misspoke.

The kid is 5 years old… He cannot be held responsible for the stupidity of the adults. But, that is what the guy in the story did as well… He did not diss the kid, but the fact that the adults wasted tax payer money for something that has no place to be be paid by the public.

Also, unlike some, I do not mind if cities want to feed the poor with tax payer money. They are close enough to the tax payers to be rewarded or punished by those paying the taxes. I would personally vote to not have they city do so, but in the end, I am not repelled by the idea of cities doing it. I am repelled when the distance between tax payer and recipient is more than a few miles away.

First we need to wake an apathetic citizenry up. The people are aloof and don’t care. They want the bad news to just ‘go away.’ They can’t be involved with the details. They don’t understand that their complacency and indifference is the problem. Candy-Coated fluff stories like this detach us from reality. Until we can do something about that, we’re headed for destruction.

you don’t even have to play devil’s advocate, you just have to use simple logic. this is in no way shape or form what the government should be doing. ridiculous. i don’t expect someone as daft and superficially cognitive as jazz to understand, but i am surprised the rest of you are falling into line with his superficial premise.

should not have been done by the government at all. there are plenty of people in need and plenty of “feel good” stories, no need for the government to get involved.

(oh, and the guy who mentions that mar is “asian”, this is why the liberals are winning – that has absolutely no relevance to anything and you should simply call him out for his liberalism, not his ethnicity. and no, this is not political correctness, this is individualism, which is what we should all strive for in every facet of our communications.)

I live 45 miles south of SFO. You will not find a place that is more unfriendly to families (even where both partners are gay) than this place. It is accursed and joyless, becoming “just a theme park” the way Herb Caen warned.

The money and political power is migrating south, where it belongs. They are the has-been boutique, in Silicon Valley we are the workshop.

Mar is a big time, Bloombergesque nanny stater who harbors a pretty hard core, anti-American and anti-police world view.

No, he isn’t anti-police. None of these bloomersesque types are actually anti-police. They love the police, when they’re enforcing their nanny state laws. They are only anti-police when it serves their agenda.

Why should this much come from city funds for one individual? How do they choose which child is worthy?

dont taze me bro on November 23, 2013 at 12:42 PM

1. They didn’t spend it on one individual. They hired actors, equipment, caters, etc. It created jobs and tax income. People also spend money on public transportation to see the event which also went into the public coffers. And as I already pointed out, cities spend millions of bucks on p.r. every year. They got their money’s worth ten fold with this measey 105k.

2. I assume the Make A Wish Foundation asked them. Probaly, SF hadn’t done something like this before and decided it would be good for the city.

(oh, and the guy who mentions that mar is “asian”, this is why the liberals are winning – that has absolutely no relevance to anything and you should simply call him out for his liberalism, not his ethnicity. and no, this is not political correctness, this is individualism, which is what we should all strive for in every facet of our communications.)

truecon on November 23, 2013 at 12:52 PM

Stuff it, jackass. SF Asians were at one time a traditional, conservative, and family oriented demographic. Apparently, they are no longer.

What’s the difference between this and hiring a band to entertain people in the park? Or put on a play? Cities do this all the time for probably more money. A lot of people in SF and the Bay Area were entertained by this.

Yes. While the working stiffs of America feed, house, and clothe every disadvantaged person in this country, our ruling elite will party on and live lavishly comforted by the knowledge that they themselves are the reason for all the harmony around us.

Look,.. I support my wife and kids too, and we also took in her sister and two of her kids when she went homeless. and I don’t “tune out” bad news just to avoid hearing about them as another suggested..

This is why so many so called moderates think conservatives are heartless d*cks. Why they ignore us, ignore our concerns. It’s all well and good to demand the “public” pay attention do the right thing, but when they see us as cold and uncaring our solutions never make it to a hearing..

because the “public” has tuned US out..

What I’m saying, is you cannot realistically expect everyone to be a news political junkie as we are, it just will not happen. Scolding them is pointless, only confirms in their mind the decision to ignore us, and see us as just as bad as the nanny state soda taxer nuts.

People will pay attention, but not to the exclusion of absolutely everything else. People like being inspired.. mock it, hate it.. doesn’t matter… or change it. People NEED hope, inspiration. They’ll seek it out, some too much sure.. but not all.

That city will get a lot more back for that hundred grand than you’d think. Tourism, good will.. are not things so easily written off.

I noticed often here, that a few of us treat the “public” with the exact contempt the left does, for just being human and not focusing on OUR issues. We need to stop being so self defeating, it’s hard enough getting the public’s attention, we don’t need to give them more reasons to think we’re the same as the left and just being pricks for the sake of it.

(oh, and the guy who mentions that mar is “asian”, this is why the liberals are winning – that has absolutely no relevance to anything and you should simply call him out for his liberalism, not his ethnicity. and no, this is not political correctness, this is individualism, which is what we should all strive for in every facet of our communications.)

truecon on November 23, 2013 at 12:52 PM

Given that mar is “anti-American, anti-Christian and anti-white”, I would have assumed that he’s black, hispanic or arab.
Are we now supposed to be like the msm and not report an azzhole’s race? Why?

Believe it or not, Amanda’s actually from West Texas, though her hometown of Alpine could be the most politically dysfunctional city in the entire region (for some reason, the mountains of Alpine and Marfa tend to attrack liberals in the same way the mountains around Taos and Santa Fe do in New Mexico).

“Wondering how many 1000s of SF kids living off SNAP/FoodStamps could have been fed from the $$.”

Hmmm, sounds like those “living off” the government ARE being fed. And, I keep getting a confusing, mixed messages from the left, are we obese or are we starving? And, don’t the “good” people of San Francisco kinda hate breeders and their kids anyway?

The final budget also includes $10 million in additional funding for homelessness prevention services and housing subsidies over two years; including funding for a dedicated family shelter in the South of Market, and supportive housing and services for transitional age youth to help them succeed.

Not to give him any ideas, but how exactly would private funding for Make a Wish actually be redirected to the SNAP program?

It’s indicative of the socialist mindset that the divide between public and private doesn’t register, because for them it doesn’t, or shouldn’t, exist. Therefore they miss little granular differences like private charities and government entitlement programs.

Further, they miss the difference in how private citizens are motivated to give charitably versus the acts of a socialist state. Never mind that if they were to actually achieve their socialist goals, there would be neither private charity nor their beloved entitlement programs any longer–it would be one long bread line for the proles, and kobe beef at the dachas for the elite until that ran out too. But the reason a community can rally to celebrate the life of one child is that we’re all touched by that celebration–we all need these stories of victories, because sometimes it feels like there are precious few of them, and because it’s actually good for my own heart to celebrate someone else. And while there are private food pantries and what-not, there’s something much more real about knowing and connecting with the one real person being helped than a faceless number–whose need is general in nature and sometimes suspect. Paying our taxes, and hearing of the passage of entitlement programs, does nothing to provide a sense of having given charitably, even sacrificially, to help our fellow man. And we know how well those programs are run and how toxic the results can be.

I will diss the government spending a hundred thousand dollars to make a kid feel emotionally better. I do not care that the kid is dying. Tax dollars should never be used for this kind of thing, EVER.

astonerii on November 23, 2013 at 12:19 PM

Wow. And what’s next…keeping firetrucks and police cars out of local homecoming, Veterans Day, Memorial Day, Columbus Day, St. Patrick’s Day, and local Christmas parades unless the denizens can come up with the carefully calculated cost of mileage?

It’s not like SF just blew a hundred thou on celebrating a porn star’s new movie, Karl Marx’s birthday, or building a sports stadium for a multi-millionaire that will be empty 330 days out of the year and that 95% of the locals will never set foot in.

There’s a difference between being fiscally conservative and being just plain stingy.

And, as I understand it, the Make a Wish Foundation is collecting contributions to cover the costs of what it took to do this for “Batkid”.

And, as I understand it, the Make a Wish Foundation is collecting contributions to cover the costs of what it took to do this for “Batkid”.

Dr. ZhivBlago on November 23, 2013 at 4:06 PM

You quoted me and then had the nerve to argue that they are collecting contributions to repay… DUH?

The tweet went out long before this… which may never happen…

…and now the Make-a-Wish Foundation is raising private funds in an effort to pay back the city.

I will diss the government spending a hundred thousand dollars to make a kid feel emotionally better. I do not care that the kid is dying. Tax dollars should never be used for this kind of thing, EVER.

astonerii on November 23, 2013 at 12:19 PM

I support parades for veterans, veterans EARN the HONOR. As for the rest, it is up to the tax payers of the area to determine PRE PLANNED events that they want to support. Ever notice that 4th of July celebration fireworks are OPTIONAL based on how much money the people allow their LOCAL officials to spend on these events?
Preplanned parades are a different thing than, SURPRISE, we just spent your tax money on this kid that we arbitrarily picked out of a bunch of sick ones. No, we never brought to your attention, and no we never really took a real vote on it, but damn, who is going to DISS a 5 year old sick KID? ITS FOR THE CHILDREN!
Now, I am sure if you made a special tax for this one kid in advance, say $0.125 per person in the city and put the tax up for a vote, you might have gotten 20% or 30% of the vote, unless of course the kid came out of the closet…

You quoted me and then had the nerve to argue that they are collecting contributions to repay…
astonerii on November 23, 2013 at 4:46 PM

You really want to wager against people contributingmore than enough to cover the cost?
If San Franciscans want to spend their taxes on things such as this, it’s no skin offa my nose. Especially in that it makes a dying kid happy, even if for just one day.

So, if they had done this for an Iraq War Veteran who was dying, it would be OK then? Or it wouldn’t be OK, but an irresponsible waste of taxpayer’s money?

“It’s for the children.”

“It’s for the Veterans.”

You really think we need to decide which is more important? I’m all for doing nice things for kids, and I’m a Veteran myself, but I don’t like either mantra being used to support ideology.

I don’t see anything nefarious in what they did for this kid, and I seriously doubt it made SF a worse place to live. If it goes under, it will be because of decades of embezzlement and millions in over-funded pension liabilities…not for doing something special for a dying kid.

As for being “pre-planned” it looks like it took a lot of planning to me. Also, you really expect the citizens to vote on something like this? You aren’t a Liberal, so I know you really don’t believe that.

And if the people of San Francisco really don’t like the Batkid thing, they’ll respond appropriately at the polls at their next elections.

Like I said, Veterans EARN what they get. The kid did no such thing.
Veterans in general though are HONORED in VETERAN’S DAY PARADES and not individually, except when they are actual members of the community in which they are honored. They defend the nation, they earn what they get. So, yes, I would be totally OK with a veteran who is dying getting special honors by the city that he entered into service to defend.

“We come from a very small town, 1,000 people, where it’s nothing like this,” Miles’ dad Nick Scott told ABC Local. “The scale this big is just overwhelming for us. It’s nothing we ever dreamed of.”

They hired actors, equipment, caters, etc. It created jobs and tax income.

People also spend money on public transportation to see the event which also went into the public coffers. And as I already pointed out, cities spend millions of bucks on p.r. every year. They got their money’s worth ten fold with this measey 105k.

2. I assume the Make A Wish Foundation asked them. Probaly, SF hadn’t done something like this before and decided it would be good for the city.

Blake on November 23, 2013 at 12:58 PM

Do you claim to be a conservative? I suppose next you’ll be arguing that we need to tax the productive members of society and then go around breaking city windows to “create jobs”.

As with all government activity, it robbed from the public where the money would be subject to market forces and would go to sustaining real, long-term jobs so it could “create” fake, short-term, unsustainable, unproductive jobs.

I guess you wouldn’t mind if your city taxed you so they could hire some actors, rent some equipment, etc, to put on an earth day parade because it “creates jobs.”

I thought make-a-wish was all private donations, not taxpayer money.

Count to 10 on November 23, 2013 at 3:55 PM

No Problem with MAW, my problem is $105,000 of taxpayers’ money being spent on one kid.

This c-rag is the reason SF has earthquakes.
Not advocating for them, but knowing this jackhole might be caught under seven tons of concrete and steel makes me To be clear, I support earthquakes.

RovesChins on November 23, 2013 at 12:59 PM

So your politics must be the reason the Heartland has killer tornadoes. Not advocating for them but the thought of your trailer being swept up and then landing on top of you makes me…. To be clear, I support tornadoes….

if you heartless wing nut faux christians had been in charge they’d have all starved to death

DBear on November 23, 2013 at 7:20 PM

I am neither right-wing, nor Christian…but my daughter has accused me of being heartless from time to time.

1. I think this was a completely inappropriate expenditure of tax dollars.

2. It’s the philanthropic community that should help people in need; Government, like everything else the try, screws it up. It’s not the Government’s job to keep stupid or lazy people entrenched in a slavery welfare state, and it makes useless leeches of their children to grow up in that environment. It is job security for Government types…take away their junkie clients…pushers are out of work. That may not be how many of the government’s programs started, but that’s damned certain where the entire Government has gone, and it has turned the strongest nation on Earth into a nation of ‘assistance-junkies’

3. Before you start on anymore silly “You are the reason children suffer” bullshit…I donate to the Make-a-Wish foundation, as well as to a few other non-profits benefitting child victims of disease and crime; both my time and money. I walk it like I talk it, punk.

Like I said, Veterans EARN what they get. The kid did no such thing.
Veterans in general though are HONORED in VETERAN’S DAY PARADES and not individually, except when they are actual members of the community in which they are honored. They defend the nation, they earn what they get. So, yes, I would be totally OK with a veteran who is dying getting special honors by the city that he entered into service to defend.

astonerii on November 23, 2013 at 6:56 PM

Sure, like I was trying to say, some pull the Kid Card, and other pull the Veteran Card…so what’s the difference? I don’t have a problem with the Batkid thing nor certainly honoring Veterans.

As for “defending the nation” I actually believed that while I was in. Now I’m realizing that’s simply not true. It’s about enforcing national policy. The vast majority of our enemies were never in any position to come marching down our streets, nor had any desire to do so. But since it’s the Department of Defense, then it must be true, and our Washington politicians and bureaucrats would never lead us astray now, would they?

And our enemies, the real ones, are winning and it doesn’t matter how strong or brave our military is. In fact, the U.S. is either arming them or financing them directly, or indirectly. The same SOBs that so many fought and sacrificed their all against are pretty much running the country now. Waving the Flag does nothing to defend our Republic, but only makes us less willing to question our national government while it’s being usurped by Leftist and foreign interests.

Sure, like I was trying to say, some pull the Kid Card, and other pull the Veteran Card…so what’s the difference? I don’t have a problem with the Batkid thing nor certainly honoring Veterans.

Kids are point blank the responsibility of their parents and not the government.
Veterans, particularly disabled in service veterans, are the responsibility of the government.
That is the difference. They performed a specific duty which EARNS in absolute terms the HONOR we as a nation bestow on them.

As for “defending the nation” I actually believed that while I was in. Now I’m realizing that’s simply not true. It’s about enforcing national policy. The vast majority of our enemies were never in any position to come marching down our streets, nor had any desire to do so. But since it’s the Department of Defense, then it must be true, and our Washington politicians and bureaucrats would never lead us astray now, would they?

Big f^cking whoopteedoo. So your country is perfect, suddenly veterans no longer mean anything to you, even though you are one! I too believed it when I was in. It does not matter what the country does that determines what the motives of those serving have. It also does not lessen the duty that Americans, through the government, OWE those who serve. The people vote in the politicians who run the military. Whether it is doing its job splendidly or pathetically is the responsibility of the VOTERS and NON VOTERS who refused to spend time to pick good leaders. In fact, in times where our military is getting so screwed is when they are in fact EARNING more, not less respect and honor. They are at the greatest risk in these times. It is easy to stand up and fight for something that is awesome and perfectly aligned with your current belief system, it is much harder to stand up and fight when those in charge at the moment (at the moment being critical) suck and are pissing you off on a daily basis.

And our enemies, the real ones, are winning and it doesn’t matter how strong or brave our military is. In fact, the U.S. is either arming them or financing them directly, or indirectly. The same SOBs that so many fought and sacrificed their all against are pretty much running the country now. Waving the Flag does nothing to defend our Republic, but only makes us less willing to question our national government while it’s being usurped by Leftist and foreign interests.

Dr. ZhivBlago on November 23, 2013 at 8:17 PM

The enemy are not winning. We are simply ceding the playground to them. This is not because of any person in the military or veterans. This is because of a corrupted and dysfunctional people that were willing to vote for hope & change after having voted for competence and responsibility which turned out to be no such thing. The people are the problem, not the military or the vets. To argue otherwise, you better bring some facts to the table that prove your case.

Make no mistake though, if our enemy strikes us at home again, they will no longer be allowed free reign of the playground any longer. That is because our military will destroy them in short order. Then our politicians, corrupt like the people that voted them into power, will end the fight and allow them free reign again. That is just how a spoiled and corrupted people behave. It does not degrade the value of our armed forces one iota. It only degrades our moral high ground within a cesspool of decrepit worthless world of nations. And quite frankly, I do not give two damned cents what any other nation thinks of ours on a moral basis, so long as in the end, they know we have our military that will destroy them if they ever think of attacking us.

I like to think so. But it’s scary how close we came to having our GIs actually fight against Assad in order to help Al Qaeda in Syria. If and when something like that happens, what then? I can’t fault the soldiers, but it would be hard to stand there and wave a little American flag as they come marching by in victory after having made the world safe for Muslim fanaticism.

unclesmrgol on November 23, 2013 at 8:31 PM

True. I would agree that many of our enemies would have been indirect threats if not stopped because of geopolitics. Still, I think the jury of history is out on that. For instance, I find it increasingly suspicious that the forces of Communism only got stronger because we defeated Hitler and Tojo.

I believe your heart is in the right place, and I really do see where you’re coming from. I just don’t happen to agree with you on this issue. I can tell you are a great, Patriotic American and I am glad there are still some like you still around.

I believe your heart is in the right place, and I really do see where you’re coming from. I just don’t happen to agree with you on this issue. I can tell you are a great, Patriotic American and I am glad there are still some like you still around.

Dr. ZhivBlago on November 23, 2013 at 8:46 PM

Sometimes it is hard to be hoorah! when people like Obama do the things they do with the nation and our military. I can understand your position, but it is hard to think of a veteran turning his back on other veterans because of the people that Americans at large vote into office.

This c-rag is the reason SF has earthquakes.
Not advocating for them, but knowing this jackhole might be caught under seven tons of concrete and steel makes me To be clear, I support earthquakes.

RovesChins on November 23, 2013 at 12:59 PM

So your politics must be the reason the Heartland has killer tornadoes. Not advocating for them but the thought of your trailer being swept up and then landing on top of you makes me…. To be clear, I support tornadoes….

DBear on November 23, 2013 at 7:25 PM

I’m waiting to hear about some forty-three year old with a fetish for collecting his own feces and licking toilet seats being shot dead while lurking outside his mom’s window.
Then, HA will be DoucheBear free.

Sometimes it is hard to be hoorah! when people like Obama do the things they do with the nation and our military. I can understand your position, but it is hard to think of a veteran turning his back on other veterans because of the people that Americans at large vote into office.

astonerii on November 23, 2013 at 8:58 PM

No, I would never turn my back on another Veteran. I’m just disagreeing with the conventional wisdom about some of the wars we’ve been forced to fight…and long before we ever heard of BHO.

Nothing at all against those who fought those as they did so to serve their country and in good conscience. My father served in Vietnam, and though I question why we had to fight that war, and how it was conducted, I am very proud of him having served there and on several occasions he came under fire. On the other hand, Agent Orange caused him to have many health problems, and Washington/VA denied that for years and years.

My father served in Vietnam, and though I question why we had to fight that war, and how it was conducted, I am very proud of him having served there and on several occasions he came under fire. On the other hand, Agent Orange caused him to have many health problems, and Washington/VA denied that for years and years.
Dr. ZhivBlago on November 23, 2013 at 10:15 PM

Had two older bros who served there – one in Airborne Cavalry, the other, older bro, as an MP. The older bro said that it took about 6 months for him to decide that he didn’t know “WTH we were there for”. He said the locals pretty much just wanted to grow rice or go about whatever their bizness and didn’t seem to care much who was running the country.
Anywhooo, like you said of your father, the family took pride in their service.

Do you claim to be a conservative? I suppose next you’ll be arguing that we need to tax the productive members of society and then go around breaking city windows to “create jobs”.

Do you deliberately take answers out of context, give them a false spin, so you can bore us once again with your false outrage and your juvenile political rantings? Because your schtick became tiring about a thousand posts ago.

But by putting a 5 year old cancer survivor on equal footing with veterans, I see that as turning your back on them. That kid did nothing to earn the wealth of the people that the government took and used on him. But if they had done it for a veteran, there is a direct link between the veteran and the people, the one in which he risked his life. Now if it was a spur of the moment celebration for the veteran, I would still be a bit perturbed with the money spending, but not as much as I would be for the spur of the moment spending on the kid. The difference is the people owe the veteran something and owe the kid nothing. The government has no business at all spending the money on the kid spur of the moment, but could conceivably have some reason to spend it for the veteran, say if he was going to die in the next month or so…
I would have no problem with the government spending the money on the kid under the following situation. The government brings a bill to be passed that says they are making a make a wish slush fund, allow the people to debate or even vote for it and the tax that would come along with it, perhaps a .05% tax. If the people agreed to it, then happy happy joy joy for them. If on the other hand, they reject it, as I imagine they would… Then hurray for the people who really matter, the we the people that the government is supposed to represent.
Anyways, I agree with you on the Vietnam War. It was fought with politics and not victory in mind. The government failed the Vietnam veterans during and after the war and you can probably find several posts in the wild where I have had issues with that war, the first gulf war, the second gulf war, the Afghanistan war, Libya and the thought about Syria wars.
Thanks for your and your fathers service.